This invention relates to target holders in general, and more in particular to target holders that are portable.
Many different designs for holding paper or cardboard targets exist in the prior art. Most designs seek to accomplish two desired qualities, mainly the capability of adapting to targets of various sizes, and lightweight and cheap construction. One such existing device was described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,118 (Miller, 6/10/49). There, a pair of spring or leaf spring members are attached to a U-frame, and a pair of clips are attached to the end of the leaf spring members. In another configuration in U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,420 (Adamson, 11/01/55), an inverted U-frame is provided with a plurality of spring members disposed along the periphery and having a clamp disposed at the end of each spring member for securing the target. A similar construction can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,166, (Clark, 3/05/63), which provides a U-frame having a plurality of clamps disposed along the periphery thereof. In all of these patents the clamps or clips provided are standard clips, including opposite disposed gripping arms pivotally supported and urged toward each other by spring means or a tubular retainer and are usually made of a number of parts which are put together in some manufacturing process. There are a number of disadvantages with this type of design, including the cost of the manufacture of the clips, and the fact that the clips must be secured to the frame by welding or some other means, which could result in the detachment of the clamp, and reduce the overall usefulness of the system.